We’ve had a busy month so far, with plenty to celebrate in the Library.
October is Black History Month, so our S3 Duke of Edinburgh Volunteers -Tafsirr, Rand and Lauren created this fantastic book display.
They wanted to highlight books that were joyful and celebratory, so included biographies of famous actors, sportspeople, scientists, musicians and World leaders. And some history books, celebrating art and culture, but also remembering the sad and unjust parts of Black history in a respectful way.
In Holyrood, we feel that it’s very important to provide diverse and anti-racist books. So in a survey, when asked what they would like to see in the library, our Senior pupils made these suggestions :
- A section focused on highlighting ethic minorities like biographies or books on cooking
- More books in different languages, and also books to encourage people to learn more about other cultures
- Scottish brown and black boys/girls everyday experiences
- Maybe more history books on Scotland’s involvement in the slave trade.
Some of the books purchased so far:
Higher ESOL requests
Our readers are passionate about seeing voices of all different nationalities and cultures represented on the library shelves. Mrs Cooper’s Higher ESOL class asked for a selection of books by black authors for the classroom. Here are some of the authors they are currently enjoying: Malorie Blackman, Jumata Emill, Sharon Flake, Danielle Jawando, Shade Lapite, Jason Reynolds, Efua Traore, Alex Wheatle.
And we often like to discuss favourite authors and poets in our library Teams chat. We thought these words were very inspiring: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive: and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style”. Maya Angelou
At the start of October, we also celebrated Dyslexia Awareness Week with a pupil-led outreach library in the Fuel zone.
This showcased the books we have available in a dyslexia friendly format; and Mr. Lang provided a Quiz about famous people. We also had a Design Your Own Superpower competition, to show that all skills and talents are valued, such as super strength, invisibility, telekinesis, talking to animals, being kind, helping one another, and putting your rubbish in the bin. So many skills – what a talented bunch!
Well done everyone
Miss Kindness
Remember, the library is free and you can borrow books for 2 weeks, or longer if you need more time to read the books you have. Stuck for an idea what to read? Why not check out our display of new books? This table is where you find a selection of new books covering all subjects.
But what if your best friend starts doing things they shouldn’t really be doing? And it’s serious. Combined with trouble at home, the Final Year is a great read and one you can identify with concerning your first year at a new school.
I’ve also enjoyed some time off to go on trips and celebrations including:
Quick Reads cover all sorts of different subjects and genres, so there is something to suit everyone. From wanting a quick story to read before bed, to not enjoying longer books, Quick Reads aren’t restricted to a single group of pupils. I use some Quick Reads stories to tell to pupils as well, I think they are great. And many of the books are also on dyslexia friendly paper too – so if you have dyslexia, the background printing of the stories should make them easier to read. Check them out the next time you are in the library !
Our S3s were absolutely captivated and our only five copies of his book went just moments after the talk concluded.